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Be it Belfast, Dubrovnik or Seville, some of Europe’s finest landscapes and buildings are set to return to our screens.

Fans of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones have been feverishly awaiting the launch of series five on our TV screens, with many a European backdrop representing the Seven Kingdoms as depicted in this cult drama.

Most fans of the show will be aware that a large part of filming takes place in Belfast, with cast and crew shooting at Titanic Studios as well as in several locations across Northern Ireland transforming themselves into The King’s Road, Winterfell, The Wall and Dragonstone. This series includes scenes at the dramatic cliff edge of Binevenagh Mountain, straddling Counties Londonderry and Antrim. You’ll also see a number of Icelandic vistas feature, too, however these are said to be more landscape shots depicting the lands beyond The Wall, as opposed to character scenes.

The beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik also appears throughout season five, with Cersei’s upcoming ‘walk of penance’ taking place along the city’s famous Stradun, Dubrovnik’s main pedestrian thoroughfare. Boasting a wealth of shops, cafes, bars and restaurants along its flagstone route, Stradun marks the location for many of the city’s main landmarks including the Sponza Palace, today home to the state archives but in its time a customs house, minting house, state treasury and bank. You’ll also see on screen Dubrovnik’s Cathedral of Our Lady, reputedly gifted to the city by Richard the Lionheart of England as thanks for having survived a shipwreck.

Elsewhere in Croatia, the impressive Diocletian’s Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the stunning city of Split will once again feature, the cellars of which were previously used to shoot the underground passageways of Meereen in season four. Sibenik meanwhile, a one-hour drive north along the Croatian coast from Split, will also be making an appearance, its St James Cathedral, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, used to represent Braavos’ House of Black and White.

New for Game of Thrones, this season also sees a number of scenes shot in southern Spain and Seville in particular, chosen as the backdrop for the principality of Dorne. As you’d expect, the city’s mighty Alcázar, jewel in the crown of Seville’s stunning Moorish architecture, takes centre stage providing the perfect representation for the Water Gardens of Dorne, the private residence of the House of Martell. Filming has also taken place at the sandstone Plaza de Toros in Osuna, just over an hour’s drive to the east of Seville, in addition to Córdoba, doubling as the city of Volantis, where the beautiful Roman Bridge spanning the Guadalquivir River has seen Thrones-related activity.

With a French grandmother, childhood holidays on the continent and a degree in French and Spanish, a love of languages and travel has always been in my blood. Fresh from university with an unfettered enthusiasm to show off my linguistic ability and first-hand knowledge of the world beyond the UK, I entered the travel industry and, 16 years on, I’m still there!
With several years spent in the luxury sector planning escorted holidays across Europe for the American market, followed by an even longer tenure designing short breaks with a difference in the must-see cities of Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Prague, Florence, Brussels, Venice, Salzburg, Milan, Krakow and Berlin (to name but a few), it’s fair to say that Europe is my passion!
Today my travels have taken me far beyond the boundaries of Europe with so many destinations still to discover, yet the continent abounds in such a wealth of treasures – historical and architectural, cultural and musical, gastronomic, artistic and linguistic – that its appeal, for me, will be eternal.